ABSTRACT
Several potential genetic targets for hereditary and sporadic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have been identified. Three genes, the von Hippel-Lindau and Tuberous Sclerosis-2 (Tsc2) tumor suppressor genes (Eker and Mossige, 1961; Gnarra et al., 1994) and the cmet protooncogene (Walker, 1998), act as determinants of susceptibility for RCC in humans and rodents, and are targets for somatic events that lead to the development of spontaneous and carcinogen-induced renal tumors. Although familial predisposition to renal cancer has led to the identification of genes involved in spontaneous RCC in humans, few genetically susceptible animal models are available to study the induction of this disease by chemical carcinogens (Paulson et al., 1985).
